FRATERNIZATION | DEREK MORGAN (ON HOLD)

EIGHT

"I think I get it now." Reid announced as he pulled the girl to one side on the plane. "The reason you don't talk unless addressed."

Theresa nodded, waiting to see if the boy had actually figured it out or if he was just taking a shot in the dark. She noticed the way that Reid glanced over at Derek, who was looking through Heather's file and filling out the paper work.

"You weren't always like this, actually from what I remember, you talked quiet a lot." Reid nervously laughed. "What happened to you, T?"

The brunette used her tongue to wet her bottom lip, she cleared her throat and looked down at her shoes. She began to anxiously fiddle with the navy cable knitted jumper before announcing,

"Tell me what you think happened to me." She wanted to see how much Reid actually knew.

"I know that back in '98, you were taken. Held hostage for a week." Reid responded. "I searched you on google, after a fair bit of research, I managed to find it."

Theresa felt choked up, with one click of a button anyone could find out everything she had been through. She glanced around at everyone in the team, wondering if curiosity had gotten the better of them and they knew all about her past.

"I had to do quite a bit of digging to find it, don't worry." Reid attempted to reassure his childhood friend. "Plus, despite everyone here being apart of the FBI, I don't exactly think they're smart enough I delved into the deep dark web."

The brunette cracked a smile at Reid's words, knowing that he was only trying to comfort her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded his head.

"Actually, selective mutism isn't that common, it affects less than one percent of the United States population." Reid smiled as he gave the girl all the statistics that he had previously read. "And it's more common in females rather than males."

Theresa's mouth fell open, wanting to tell Reid that she didn't need to hear all the statistics, in fact the first therapist that her father took her too had drilled them all into her head, which was the main reason she had to switch to family therapy, so that she didn't feel as alone.

"It normally starts within childhood, so cases like yours are rare. If left untreated, you may be left completely mute."

She looked around for someone to notice that she wanted to be pulled away from Reid and all of his statistics. She adored Reid, but the facts and figures that he was coming out with only made her more anxious.

Subconsciously, her hand raised to touch her neck, making her gulp and her eyes screw shut. Her breathing hitched as she stepped backwards. Reid furrowed his brows and realised that he probably overwhelmed her with all the facts.

"I'm sorry, I won't tell anyone, T." He offered the girl a supportive smile as she walked off to sit beside Gideon.

Theresa tapped the table in front of her until she gained Gideon's attention. Her offered her a closed lip smile as he looked at her.

"Theresa." He nodded, allowing her to speak.

The girl was thankful that he understood that she needed to talk to him. Gideon was the only person on the team, despite Reid, that knows about what she went through.

"Spencer knows about me." She paused, fiddling with the end of the jumper. "He knows about my past. What I went through."

"Okay." Gideon nodded, running his hand over his face, wondering how he would go about the situation would go if Reid decided to tell everyone on the team. "Are you worried about it, Tessa?"

"No, he promised that he wouldn't tell anyone." Theresa reassured Gideon. "I just thought that you ought to know."

Gideon nodded understandingly, he watched as the girl slowly stood up and walked over to where Derek was sat. He softly smiled as she sat beside him.

Theresa looked over to the couch opposite her and Derek, noticing the way that Reid was sprawled across it, fast asleep. She let go of a small laugh at the fact that mere minutes ago he was talking to her.

Derek slung his arm around the back of the couch, causing Theresa to lean closer to the man. He allowed his arm to drop to her shoulder and pulled her into his chest.

"Get some rest, Tess." He whispered gently, noticing the way that her eyes instantly closed as her head rested upon his chest.

Theresa just hummed in response, shuffling closer to the man, smiling at the way his fingers traced patterns on her biceps.

The man placed down the files, deciding that he had done enough work for one day and closed his eyes. They all needed rest.

Nietzsche once said, "when you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks into you."